


Song of the Fireflies

by sottovocexo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Forgiveness, Friendship/Love, Healing, Peace, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 03:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10505535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sottovocexo/pseuds/sottovocexo
Summary: During the events of “The Promise – Part 1,” when Zuko is preparing to withdraw his support from the Harmony Restoration Movement, he chooses to right a past wrong. But will he find peace?





	1. I.

The old fence was missing a few more posts. One gentle push could bring it all down. He searched for the corroded latch on the gate and entered.

What was he doing, arriving before her in royal regalia? What purpose did that serve? He was the Fire Lord, but he was also just Zuko. He had been just Lee. He removed the chest plate and unhooked his cape, holding them out in front of him, thinking that they would not help him here. One place where they were a hindrance. He felt for his crown, the headpiece tucked into his topknot, and left it in place. He was the Fire Lord. And he could make it right.

With his armor in the dirt beside the fence, he pulled the ostrich horse into the outer yard, tying it to the stake that was still there, still aglow with the light of fireflies. He couldn’t forget them—the way they danced here, came alive in this yard, their song silent and peaceful. He’d never seen so many fireflies. 

He had not yet been a man then, but a boy finding his way. He was not ashamed of his past, of his struggle.

Zuko glanced toward the house. An ostrich horse was not an olive branch. The lanterns hanging on the porch were lit, burning like a firefly’s flame, and he knew she was home. 

The last time he’d sat on that porch, she had nearly seen him. Yet not completely, not who he really was. And still, she hated him. He couldn’t bear for her to look again.

“What do I say?” Zuko asked aloud, securing the ostrich horse. “What can I say?”

“You can start with hello.”

Song stepped onto the porch, their eyes locking across the yard, nothing but a fence and fireflies floating between them.

“You came back.”


	2. II.

Zuko stood before her, bare. Without armor. Without status. “I...”

She crossed the yard and stroked the mane of her ostrich horse. “I never thought I’d see your face again.” 

He reached up for his scar, his fingertips grazing the ridges. “I see,” he said, his voice a whisper, no stronger than a blade of grass in the gust. 

“And after you left, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.” Song looked up, resolute. "The Fire Nation took so much from me. I thought you knew what that was like. I let you in. _We_ let you into our house.”

“I brought him in peace,” Zuko stammered. “I had to bring him back. What I did…” He glanced back at his helmet, felt for his chest plate. “My name isn’t Lee.”

She bowed deeply, a smile playing on her lips. “Perhaps we should try this again. My name is Song. And it would be an honor to welcome the new Fire Lord to my home.”

Stunned, Zuko dropped his hand, forgot about his scar, forgot he was anyone but a thief named Lee. “I stole from you. I _lied_ to you!”

“But there is still good in you.” Song smiled, finally seeing him and having always known him. “Please, come inside. At least come sit for a little while. You must have traveled a long way.”

They passed through the yard. When he arrived at the porch, he could only stare at the ledge, couldn’t make the final step to reenter her life. 

Song sat down and laid a hand on the planks next to her. He took his place.


	3. III.

“My people accused me of turning my back on them,” Zuko said. “But I’m not what they think. I’m not a monster. Or my father. I’m just trying to do what’s right; I’m trying to make amends. I’ve spent so much of my life seeking honor and reparations…but what I’m really looking for is forgiveness. I hope I can find it here.” 

His voice was breaking, his heart accepting that he may find kindness but never forgiveness. That he might never find peace. If he could not find it there—beneath the soft light of the lantern, in the song of silence—he thought he never would. 

Song looked out to the night, the fireflies. “We believe they are like embers from burning grasses,” she whispered, extending her hand, a firefly landing on the tip of her finger. “I like to think that they mean you can hurt the land, but it can still give you beauty back.”

Her scar was a memory of when he learned what the Fire Nation could do outside its own borders. He tried to look away, tried to imagine how scars could ever be beautiful. How embers and fireflies could ever mean anything other than loss. 

“The Fire Nation said they were the souls of warriors lost in battle,” Zuko said, his voice raspy and low. “Our people are very different…The last time I was here, I couldn’t believe what my own nation had done to the world. Now, I’m prepared to do whatever is in my power to make it right. 

“Things are changing. The nations are no longer as divided as they once were. The Avatar and I have started the Harmony Restoration Movement to return colonials to the Fire Nation but...part of me thinks we can come together. I’ve seen it…in towns like yours,” he said, looking her way, her eyes glowing, smiling. “I’ve seen it in Yu Dao: Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens living side by side and…starting families together.” He cleared his throat, thinking of his kingdom. Of his future.

“I saw pain in you,” she said. “I knew you were hurting like me and I thought you let it destroy you. But I see now that I was wrong.” 

“They did hurt me. My own father…” He took a deep breath, blinked away tears, his chest rising and falling freely without his armor. 

“We’re not so different,” Song said, catching a firefly in the cup of her palm. “To our people, all of these can mean many things, but to us…they're still just fireflies.” She glanced down and smiled, held out her hand as the firefly floated away. 

“You were right about him, you know…” Zuko said. “The Avatar. He came back—and he saved the world. The whole time, I was just standing in his way. But, I sought his forgiveness and he gave me friendship.” 

She met his gaze, his eyes golden like embers and fireflies. 

“Do you think after all this…we can still find beauty?” he asked. “Am I doing the right thing by defying the Avatar?” 

“How can we ever live in peace if we are divided?” Song asked brightly. “There can’t be unity until we work together to create a world where a girl from the Earth Kingdom can sit beside the Fire Lord in peace. I don’t see anything wrong with a world like that.”


End file.
